St. Mary's claims SCH tourney title

A disastrous opening quarter only made St. Mary's response that much more impressive as the Crusaders continued their dominant march toward the playoffs with a 48-27 victory over Cascade Christian in the Southern Cascade Hybrid tournament championship game Saturday at St. Mary's High School.

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Posted Feb. 17, 2013 at 12:20 AM
Updated Feb 17, 2013 at 12:23 AM

Posted Feb. 17, 2013 at 12:20 AM
Updated Feb 17, 2013 at 12:23 AM

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A disastrous opening quarter only made St. Mary's response that much more impressive as the Crusaders continued their dominant march toward the playoffs with a 48-27 victory over Cascade Christian in the Southern Cascade Hybrid tournament championship game Saturday at St. Mary's High School.

The win, the Crusaders' 11th in a row, all but guarantees St. Mary's a home game next Saturday in the first round of the 16-team Class 3A girls basketball state playoff bracket. A win there would advance the Crusaders to the final eight-team tournament the following week at Marshfield and North Bend High Schools.

Cascade Christian will probably have to travel for its playoff opener. First-round pairings are expected to be released by the OSAA via www.osaa.org this afternoon.

"We didn't want to leave it up to the other teams that are playing to get a home game and get a good seed going into the state playoffs," St. Mary's head coach Richard Vasey said. "That was what we talked about and I think the girls responded really well."

Not at first, though.

The Crusaders (23-2) scored just two points in the first quarter, and even those were "lucky," admitted Vasey — a pair of free throws with only seconds remaining. But St. Mary's, which hasn't lost since Jan. 4, played good enough defense to stay within a point, 3-2, and heated up considerably in the second quarter to take control.

By halftime, St. Mary's had built a 14-point lead, and it only added to it in the second half.

"We opened it up and kind of got into a rhythm," Vasey said. "Going into halftime with that cushion really helped. (Cascade Christian) came out and made a run in the third quarter, but luckily we were kind of able to hold them off and keep that cushion through the third."

GILCHRIST 59, BUTTE FALLS 47 — At Gilchrist, Sierra Kirkpatrick had 13 points, seven assists and five steals for Butte Falls, but the Loggers could not overcome a subpar first half in what turned out to be a season-ending loss.

The Loggers (13-10, 9-7 MVL) could have clinched a playoff berth with a win but instead lost out to Trinity Lutheran on a tiebreaker for the league's No. 3 spot in the state play-in round.

Also for Butte Falls, Joli Hobbs had 14 points and nine rebounds, Shawna Creech added nine boards and Tamika Funk had three steals.